Question: If the sales tax in your city is $7.9\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$119$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${7.9\%} \times {\$119} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $7.9\%$ is equivalent to $7.9 \div 100$ $7.9 \div 100 = 0.079$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.079$ $\times$ $$119$ = $$9.40$ You would pay $$9.40$ in sales tax.